Connie's Corner

An old sewing machine....

Mid-week Prompt for Fresh Water Journal "Invalid Item" 

Think of an unusual inanimate object which has great meaning to you. Write in your journal and tell your readers all about it.

Although it is not really an unusual object, though it is old, the first thing that came to my mind after reading the prompt was my grandmother's old treadle Singer sewing machine. Before she passed away in February of 1981, she told my Uncle Johnny to make sure he gave it to me, and it has adorned my home ever since.

When I was little, I remember sitting in a chair by her side and watching as she pedaled that machine, bent over in deep concentration. I was fascinated by how the needle way up on top could go up and down as her feet way down on the bottom did all the work. She explained to me how the big wheel by her knee with the belt on it sent the energy from her feet up to the needle. Everything may not have been clear, but it was explanation enough to satisfy a five-year old.

Most often, she made brightly, colored aprons from old clothes that she cut up for further use. They were simple ones, gathered and topped with a waistband and a bib that she pinned with two big safety pins to the top of her dress. I cannot remember her without one of those aprons tied around her ample middle. All I have to do today is take one look at that old Singer machine, and I instantly see Grandmom. Her hair was long and black with threads of gray just like she used on the sewing machine. She wore it parted in the middle in two plaits neatly wrapped around her head. I never saw it any other way. Later in life she wore glasses, and that is always how I imagine her, short and plump with a twinkle in her dark eyes.

In the drawer of the machine I found old buttons, spools of thread, and spare machine needles in a little vial with a wad of raw cotton soaked in oil. People were smart back then, weren't they? She did not want her needles to rust...and they didn't.

Soon after I brought her pride and joy home with me, I found a Singer site on the web that would tell me the "birthdate" of my inheritance. This is the message I received back:

Thank you for taking the time to write. Our records show that serial #G 532173 is model 27, manufactured 6/15/1910 in Elizabeth, NJ. An instruction manual for this model is available to download from our web-site www.singershop.com. From the homepage, select "Machine Manuals". Cordially, The Singer Family

I was so excited to know all this. I downloaded the manual and commenced to sew a seam on a scrap cloth. Boy, did that take some getting used to. I must be one of those monkeys who cannot rub his belly and pat his head at the same time. I never did master the art of the treadle machine, and in the process, gained a new respect for Grandmom. After she passed, I wished I had asked her about when and how she came into possession of the treadle machine. My grandparents were married in 1913 so it had to have been purchased used. I imagine it as a birthday or anniversary present.

It will always be one of my favorite treasures and, I hope, someday, it becomes one of my daughter's, too.

Thanks for the prompt, Karen, and for stirring up such a good memory...

until next time....c